Leaders of the Hispanic community in Springfield said Thursday many immigrants are anxious about rumors of aggressive operations by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Yolanda Lorge, president of Grupo Latinoamericano, said she's heard a lot of people expressing fear about an immigration sweep in the first month of Donald Trump's presidency, but she hasn't seen any evidence in Springfield.

Following reports of undocumented immigrants being arrested in large numbers across the country last week, thousands of people in the United States reportedly participated in “Day Without Immigrants” protests on Thursday.

Many businesses, including some in Springfield, closed for the day as part of the protest, which aimed to show the impact immigrants have on the country’s economy and society, according to USA Today.

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The Wheelhouse food truck attached a sign on the door of the Latino Market on East St. Louis Street which closed on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017 as part of "A Day Without Immigrants."(Photo11: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)

ICE took to Twitter on Wednesday to deny the rumors that had spread on social media about raids at churches and deportation checkpoints.

"Reports of ICE checkpoints and sweeps or 'roundups' are false, dangerous and irresponsible," the agency tweeted.

In Missouri, The Kansas City Star reported that 26 people were arrested in the Kansas City area last week as part of a weeklong multi-state operation by ICE.

An ICE spokesman reportedly told The Star the arrests were part of regular operations targeting people who had entered the country illegally and committed crimes.

ICE did not respond to a request for comment from the News-Leader on Thursday.

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The Latino Market on St. Louis Street closed on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017 as part of "A Day Without Immigrants."(Photo11: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)

Lorge said a lot of people in Springfield aren't sure what to believe. She said even a friend who is a United States citizen recently called her to express worry about being deported.

"That's the fear," Lorge said.

Lorge said she was aware of a few people being arrested by ICE officers in Monett in recent weeks, but it's not unusual for her to hear about a handful of arrests in the area in a month.

The Monett Times reported that two Mexican nationals were arrested by ICE officers on Jan. 26 while they were working at the Ziggie's restaurant. Authorities said the arrests were part of a targeted enforcement operation.

Memo Latapi, publisher of the bilingual newspaper M30, said he's also heard people in Springfield's Hispanic community express worry about an ICE crackdown.

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Memo Latapi(Photo11: News-Leader file photo)

Latapi said his sense is that those fears of an immigration sweep are just rumors.

"It is just about common sense," Latapi said. "I think a general rule is that if you just heard it from a friend, it is difficult to verify that information."

Latapi said he knew of at least a couple of Springfield businesses that participated in the "Day Without Immigrants" protest.

Latino Market on St. Louis Street was closed on Thursday.

A sign on the door stated “Latino Market will be closed Thursday February 16 in support of all immigrants. Immigrants make America great.”